In previous years the Bayreuth Baroque Festival has exhumed as its centerpiece a rare 18th century work, but for the 2025 edition next month it reaches back to 1666 for Cavalli’s opera Pompeo Magno which Chris’s Cache offers in a BBC studio performance from fifty years ago led by Denis Stevens with the marvelous countertenor Paul Esswood in the title role.

Earlier this summer the Aix-en-Provence Festival presented the bawdy La Calisto, Cavalli’s most popular work which, like L’Ormindo before it, was given its first modern performance at the Glyndebourne Festival in a sumptuous realization by Raymond Leppard.

Today’s Pompeo may sound familiar to those who know Leppard’s Glyndebourne recordings as it too has been fleshed out with lush orchestral accompaniment. They may sound puzzlingly anachronistic to modern ears used to HIP (historically-informed performance practice) interpretations but I retain a great fondness for that approach. You can listen to live performance of L’Ormindo led by Leppard here.

We are greatly fortunate that Peter Hall’s delicious production of the Leppard Calisto starring Janet Baker, Ileana Cotrubas, James Bowman, and Hugues Cuénod was filmed at Glyndebourne.

The upcoming Bayreuth performances of Pompeo Magno by Cappella Mediterranea, led by its founder Leonard Garcia Alarcón, will no doubt feature a smaller band of instruments and five countertenors, compared to just one for Stevens. The opera will later be performed in concert in Paris and Vienna.

Based on previous years, Pompeo, one of Cavalli’s rarest works, will be streamed during or shortly after the festival which has been exemplary in keeping available for free much of its content over the years. Many Bayreuth Baroque streams are available on its website.

Cavalli: Pompeo Magno

Issicratea: Elizabeth Simon
Giulia: Ursula Connors
Delfo/First Prince: Shirley Minty
Arpalia/Servilio: Jennifer Smith
Sesto/Third Prince: Patricia Clark
Atrea/Crasso: Edgar Fleet
Pompeo Magno: Paul Esswood
Mitridate/Second Prince: Nigel Rogers
Farnace: Robert Jones
Cesare/Fourth Prince: John Noble
Claudio: Anthony Rolfe Johnson

Accademia Monteverdiana
Conductor: Denis Stevens
BBC
1975
Broadcast

Pompeo Magno can be downloaded by clicking on the icon of a cloud with an arrow pointing downward on the audio player above and the resulting mp3 file will appear in your download directory.

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Christopher Corwin

Christopher Corwin began writing for parterre box in 2011 under the pen name “DeCaffarrelli.” His work has also appeared in , The New York Times, Musical America, The Observer, San Francisco Classical Voice and BAMNotes. Like many, he came to opera via the Saturday Met Opera broadcasts which he began listening to at age 11. His particular enthusiasm is 17th and 18th century opera. Since 2015 he has curated the weekly podcast Trove Thursday on parterre box presenting live recordings.

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